Okay no more "Feed Me Crow Boys!" posts the night before an away game. Whether it's indigestion or a premonition, I should just keep my deep, dark, scary thoughts about an imminent loss to myself. I know a lot of you will want to know why I think we have a better shot of beating the Bears in Chicago then we did against the Dolphins in Miami. On the outside looking in, it seems like a rather ridiculous thought. Yet, for years and years and years I've watched this sometimes frustratingly maddening team of ours get our asses handed to us by cupcake teams while beating (sometimes more than convincingly) the better teams nobody - including us - gave us a shot to win.

Nobody expected the Seahawks to travel to New York last year and not only win but beat down the would-be Super Bowl Champions. In 2010, nobody expected us to go into Chicago and beat the Bears, but we did, with conviction and panache. The list is strangely long in our history.

It comes down to one simple and frustrating trait: The Seahawks tend to play down to their inferior opponents while playing up to their superior opponents.

This year, they are playing that paradigm like a fine instrument.

The Bears are wounded. The Seahawks and coaching staff are flat out disgusted and embarassed for the game they gave away in Miami. This clearly favors us. I may not know the outcome of this next game better than the next fan, but I do know that they will give the Bears a MUCH better fight than they ever gave the Dolphins. I will not in the least be surprised if we not only beat the Bears this Sunday but do so convincingly. Just another reason to be dismayed and betrayed when they lose to the Bills.

I agree with you 100% Aros. We play to win against the better teams, and we play not to lose against the worse teams. Hawks need this win more than ever.

Seahawks 17Da Beers 13

"I'm not the type to let a sleeping giant lie. I wake up the giant, slap him around, make him mad and beat him to the ground. I talk a big game because I carry a big stick." --- All-Pro Stanford Graduate

My optimism has been crushed. I think the now distracted defense continues to stink it up as they have recently, and this is first week that Wilson really looks like a rookie. I think the Bears eat our O line alive and harass Wilson all game. Marshawn will have nowhere to run again.

If you call the Dolphins game and this one correctly then I will be the one eating some serious crow. You called the Dolphins game to a T- Played not to lose rather than to win. The play calling showed. Everyone was fat, lazy, and unfocused. There are some major pluses to Pete Carroll as HC, but Focus, and Discipline aren't up there with the best teams in the league.

Forte runs up the gut for 135+ because the defensive middle shortcomings have not been repaired. Cutler throws 2 TDs. Russ matches him but Hawks' ground game nearly gets totally shut down and Pete/Bevell still refuse to let Wilson loose (he again throws for under 300) and they continue to try to pound the rock. As a result, Hawks lose.....

The Bears' offensive philosophy (i.e. feed off turnovers) is massively overrated. So is Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy. Chicago will stop the run, force Seattle to depend on the pass, and PC won't do it.

I agree with Scotte that Earl Thomas will get a pick; Jay Cutler loves to target single high coverage with Brandon Marshall, but our corners will take Marshall out and no single high safety Cutler has faced this year is as rangy as Earl. And his O-line is currently just as patchwork as Seattle's, giving our D-line a chance to atone for Miami.

In a Carolina-style performance, we play frustrating vanilla football but eke out another Soldier Field win.

Chicago 13Seattle 17

RTD: 4-7

Last edited by MontanaHawk05 on Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The Bears wins have all been big this season. Only two of their wins have come by less than two TD's. One was Carolina (Steve Smith absolutely kills us every single time), and the other was a 6 point win over Detroit. Cutler was dinged up in the 2nd half of that game after getting completely crushed by Suh, and it affected playcalling down the stretch.

I said this on a 49ers message board on the week of the 49ers game, and it goes for the Seahawks as well. For the Seahawks to win, the first quarter is very important. The Bears play their worst football in the first quarter. Cutler is bad in the first quarter usually, and it takes the offense a while to find much traction (if they ever do). If the Seahawks can take advantage and get ahead, they'll be in good shape.

However, the Bears defense, most of the time, covers for the offensive struggles, and gets an early turnover or two to allow for some cheap points. The Bears play very well from ahead. Cutler and the offense are very good at piling it on when they have a lead. If the Seahawks are down early, they'll be in trouble.

Looks like we're going to be missing two O-lineman for the game, but the O-line has been pretty bad all season, so no huge loss.

I'm picking the Bears big, but it's mostly because of the Seahawks road troubles. I'd have much more trouble with my prediction if the game was in Seattle. I think the Bears win by a couple of TD's and a FG. 31-14

Banedon wrote:Bears fan here. Won't be offended if you dismiss this prediction.

The Bears wins have all been big this season. Only two of their wins have come by less than two TD's. One was Carolina (Steve Smith absolutely kills us every single time), and the other was a 6 point win over Detroit. Cutler was dinged up in the 2nd half of that game after getting completely crushed by Suh, and it affected playcalling down the stretch.

I said this on a 49ers message board on the week of the 49ers game, and it goes for the Seahawks as well. For the Seahawks to win, the first quarter is very important. The Bears play their worst football in the first quarter. Cutler is bad in the first quarter usually, and it takes the offense a while to find much traction (if they ever do). If the Seahawks can take advantage and get ahead, they'll be in good shape.

However, the Bears defense, most of the time, covers for the offensive struggles, and gets an early turnover or two to allow for some cheap points. The Bears play very well from ahead. Cutler and the offense are very good at piling it on when they have a lead. If the Seahawks are down early, they'll be in trouble.

Looks like we're going to be missing two O-lineman for the game, but the O-line has been pretty bad all season, so no huge loss.

I'm picking the Bears big, but it's mostly because of the Seahawks road troubles. I'd have much more trouble with my prediction if the game was in Seattle. I think the Bears win by a couple of TD's and a FG. 31-14

MontanaHawk05 wrote:The Bears' offensive philosophy (i.e. feed off turnovers) is massively overrated. So is Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy. Chicago will stop the run, force Seattle to depend on the pass, and PC won't do it.

You know, I debated with you before over Carroll's willingness to be flexible. I think we might have been talking about him molding his philosophy to allow for a different sort of QB to run the team (probably in a larger discussion about the merits of Ryan Mallett or something). I recall saying that I thought Carroll would be flexible, but I can't recall my reasoning.

The Miami game was the first real time I worried that you were probably right. I could dismiss the lack of flexibility early on this season as we broke in a rookie QB as just part of the process of easing his transition. But Wilson was hot in the Dolphins game, and I believe he could have done more had the coaches put the game more on his shoulders.

I guess here's the part where I hope that the Miami game was a bit of a wake-up call for the entire team, players and coaches alike. Players, you're confident and that's good, but you're not so good that you can take an opponent for granted and half-ass it out there. Coaches, you need to do a better job of making in-game adjustments to take advantage of the realities of the game rather than sticking stubbornly to a script.

To the Banedon, the Bears fan, I understand your reasoning but some trend is going to have to give this year. The Bears may win big, but Seattle just doesn't lose big this season. They keep games close and take them down to the wire. The only games where that hasn't been true are against the Cowboys and Jets, where Seattle won big. Every single loss Seattle's had was by 7 or less, and every one of them was close in the 4th quarter. Your Bears may win, but don't be surprised if it's by a late FG.

volsunghawk wrote:To the Banedon, the Bears fan, I understand your reasoning but some trend is going to have to give this year. The Bears may win big, but Seattle just doesn't lose big this season. They keep games close and take them down to the wire. The only games where that hasn't been true are against the Cowboys and Jets, where Seattle won big. Every single loss Seattle's had was by 7 or less, and every one of them was close in the 4th quarter. Your Bears may win, but don't be surprised if it's by a late FG.

Good point. Even if the margin of victory doesn't hold to form, the Bears do still play better from ahead, so it's still a situation where I feel like the first quarter will be important.

Seahawks put a dagger in my heart last Sunday, took a lot of the wind out of my sails. That loss, along with the loss to Detroit really sting me I felt we should have won both of those games, I don't feel like we're a playoff team if we can't win games like those. Put on top Sherman and Browner's suspensions (I believe they're playing against the Bears) which I don't even want to get into just disappointing. I don't have much faith going into this game even if Russell has been playing super well, I'm not trying to be super negative but trying to objectively look at the rest of the season without two of the better corners in the league, it's not looking promising.

Think the Bears have a field day with us, we're coming off a tough loss, long flight home, another road game which we just can't seem to get over that road game curse, coaching mistakes, player mistakes. Re-reading my post seems so debbie downer, ha.

MontanaHawk05 wrote:The Bears' offensive philosophy (i.e. feed off turnovers) is massively overrated. So is Pete Carroll's offensive philosophy. Chicago will stop the run, force Seattle to depend on the pass, and PC won't do it.

You know, I debated with you before over Carroll's willingness to be flexible. I think we might have been talking about him molding his philosophy to allow for a different sort of QB to run the team (probably in a larger discussion about the merits of Ryan Mallett or something). I recall saying that I thought Carroll would be flexible, but I can't recall my reasoning.

The Miami game was the first real time I worried that you were probably right. I could dismiss the lack of flexibility early on this season as we broke in a rookie QB as just part of the process of easing his transition. But Wilson was hot in the Dolphins game, and I believe he could have done more had the coaches put the game more on his shoulders.

I guess here's the part where I hope that the Miami game was a bit of a wake-up call for the entire team, players and coaches alike. Players, you're confident and that's good, but you're not so good that you can take an opponent for granted and half-ass it out there. Coaches, you need to do a better job of making in-game adjustments to take advantage of the realities of the game rather than sticking stubbornly to a script...........

Great post Volsung. Agree with you on all accounts from the worry to the hope.

During the 4th quarter last weekend, my Dad and I were talking about that game already being a win.. Losing that game, than hearing the news about Browner, and my DUDE Sherman.. Well, it may be my hardest crash from high expectations, to virtually NO expectations. This team prooves week in and week out, that they can't be consistent in ANY phase of the game. My heart tells me 28-17 Seahawks. My gut tells me 35-20 Bears. I hope I'm wrong. But there is no way that Sherman and Browner can play this week with a clear conscience. I just don't see it.. Ohhh well.